Coronavirus: the cry for help from Maratea’s tourism operators

On the eve of the tourist season, which probably will not happen or will not happen soon, the cry for help from the operators of the Maratea Tourism Consortium on the Lucanian coast rises. With a heartfelt letter sent to the institutions, the president Biagio Salerno issues an SOS.

The coronavirus emergency risks making further victims if no action is taken quickly. This is the heartfelt appeal from Biagio Salerno, president of the Maratea Tourism Consortium, which groups together the seaside tourist destination on the Lucanian coast, Potenza side, and part of the district.

In a letter sent to the Lucanian governor Vito Bardi, to the Basilicata regional council, to the President of the Council Giuseppe Conte, to the ministers Gualtieri, Franceschini, and Calogero Provenzano, each for their respective role, and to the mayor of Maratea, President Biagio Salerno urges for measures that genuinely support the sector, quickly.

“Do not leave us alone. Listen to our cry for help. We ask for help for tourism, to prevent more deaths amid the disastrous economic crisis, for Italy and for our hoped-for future and that of our children. The health crisis is silently destroying our lives, our economy, and along with it our businesses, our numerous sacrifices in a region already in trouble. We need interventions with significant and extraordinary measures,” added Salerno, “which can give us and guarantee the revival of our already fragile economy, linked to our sector. Tourism is the sector most affected by the health emergency, with cancellations reaching up to 100%.

The Maratea Tourism Consortium requests specific interventions summarized as follows:

• Need for quick liquidity;
• Facilitated access to guarantee funds;
• Suspension of mortgage payments for all of 2020;
• Suspension of tax and levy payments, date to be defined, until businesses can pay;

• Tax bonus, which could be calibrated to the income loss of the activity in 2020 compared to 2019;
• Rent bonus to be extended until travel in Italy is possible again;
• Tax credit of 75% of documented expenses for sanitizing environments;
• Promotion actions at national and international levels, including commercial promotion and enhancement of the strengths of the Maratea coast: sea, environment, culture, art, archaeology, history, traditions, and local products;
• Investments in digital technology, whose importance has been further emphasized with the coronavirus health crisis;
• Special measures with investments in public and private infrastructure to increase tourism competitiveness in the Maratea area;
• Reductions in bureaucracy and tax pressure;
• An extraordinary communication plan to promote the Italian market with the immediate goal of recovering domestic demand;
• Strengthening transportation and the implementation of missing infrastructures for the south, such as high-speed rail.

“With the collapse of tourism, the sector cannot be left alone. Rapid action is necessary during this extremely difficult time for the hospitality world. The system has come to a complete halt during a very important period between winter tourism and bookings for summer holidays. These are difficult days for everyone; our lives and those of our businesses have been overturned, and the perception that a return to normalcy will not be easy is tangible. We are aware,” concluded Biagio Salerno, “that we must respond to the crisis by exploiting new opportunities. Despite the adversities, counting on your support, we believe it is essential to maintain a positive attitude to avoid catastrophic thoughts, with the hope of being protagonists of our lives by restarting with our usual activities.”

Maratea Tourism Consortium
The Maratea Tourism Consortium is an organization that groups together over 30 operators from the Maratea district with the aim of enhancing and promoting the Lucanian tourist destination. Within the organization are accommodation structures and operators who contribute, in various capacities, to complete the tourism supply chain. Maratea is also known as “the Pearl of the Tyrrhenian” thanks to its natural beauty and focus on sustainable tourism.